"One a minute. That's the statistic," Sing Gujral said. "There's a woman that dies of breast cancer every minute and that is unacceptable."
Singer Melissa Etheridge, a cancer survivor, attended the premiere.
"I remember when I got the diagnosis," Etheridge said. "You step through and all of a sudden you're a person with cancer, a mother with cancer, a family member with cancer. Cancer is the issue in your family and it changes everyone."
Etheridge got her diagnosis more than five years ago.
Singer Olivia Newton-John fought the fight as well some 18 years ago.
"I believe that we'll see the end of cancer in my lifetime," Newton-John said. "That's my dream that I'm putting out there."
Actress Morgan Brittany, a friend of the director, led a panel discussion in Burbank that was simulcast in more than 500 U.S. theatres before the movie played.
"This film will touch you," Brittany said. "It will touch your heart. It will connect you with people. It will make you reach out and it will make you take better care of yourself."
"1 a Minute" was only in theatres for one night, but it will be available on DVD on Thursday.
